, commonly known as '''Malheur Bell''', is a rural telephone company operating in
Oregon . It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Qwest Corporation , the
Bell Operating Company of
Qwest Communications International .
It was founded in
1895 to serve
Malheur County, Oregon (then located in
Pacific Bell territory). A controlling interest was purchased by Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company in the
1910s , in exchange for Malheur's purchase of the toll line Rocky Mountain Bell laid to connect Malheur to the rest of the telephone network. It continued to remain an independent operation of
Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph , formed when Rocky Mountain Bell merged with several other telephone companies throughout the
Rocky Mountain region.
By 1984, Mountain Bell had acquired 100% of the company interest, and Malheur continued to operate independently of
Mountain Bell . It was now located within
Pacific Northwest Bell territory, which became a sister
Bell Operating Company of Mountain Bell under
US West ownership in 1984. In 1991, US West merged its operating companies into
US West Communications ; however, Malheur Bell remained independent of the rest of US West operations, and continued to use the Bell trademark.
In 2000, US West was acquired by
Qwest , and US West Communications was renamed
Qwest Corporation . Malheur Bell, however, continues to operate independently of its parent, Qwest Corporation. As
AT&T Inc. purchased
BellSouth , and in December 2006, and is ceasing use of the BellSouth name and logo, Malheur Bell is the last company to use the Bell trademark.
Verizon still uses the logo on all of its payphones, buildings, trucks and hats.
Cincinnati Bell still uses the name, but no longer uses the
Saul Bass -inspired logo.
